Machine for wearing in drive-chains.



F. L. MORSE.

MACHINE FOR WEARING IN DRlVE CHAINS.

APPUCATION HLED APR.8. 1914. m55im. Patented Feb.12;191&

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

V WITNESSES F. L. MORSE. MACHINE FOR WEARING IN DRIVE CHMNS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 19M. Patented Feb 12 -'4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. L. MORSE. MACHINE FOR WEARING IN DRIVE CHAINS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 19M- 7 Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHEE1' 3.

WITNESSES F. L. MORSE. MACHINE FOR WEARING IN DRIVE CHAINS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8. I914. 1,5531%. Patented. Feb.12,1918;

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES INVE/VTOR run srs earner ienrcii.

FRANK L. MORSE, OF ITHACA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 MORSE CHAIN COMPANY, OF I'II-IACA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOB, WEARING IN DRIVE-CHAINS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. as, rare.

Application meal a, 1914. Serial No. 830,351.

To all whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Mouse, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and Stateof New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Wearing in Drive-Chains, of which improvement the following is a specification.

In multi-plate drive chains wherein each of the links is formed of a plurality of plates which are stamped or punched out of a sheet or strip of thin metal, and mounted on pintles to engage the teeth of the sprockets by a bearing upon the edge of said link plates, there may be a certain small amount of stretching or lengthening during a short period of time after the chain is first put into actual service, dueto the wearing down of minute projections upon the punched surface of the bearing edges of the plates-upon the pintles and upon; the sprockets, and to other slight irregularities in the relative positions of the plates of a linkupon the pintle. After the elimination of this initial lengthening or stretching of the chain during the preliminary period of wear, the parts become firmly seated, and there is then very little or substantially no further lengthening or stretching during. the remainder of the useful life of the chain.

In some classes of work it isimportant that this initial stretching should be eliminated before the chain is put into actual service, and while this may be-done by operating the chainunder full load. and actual service conditionsforthe necessary period -of time, such method-1s ObJGCtlOlltlblG smce it requires a great amount of power and time to operate the drives under these con- Yes ditionsgwhile-at-the same time the useful life of the chainaisshortened. to a considerable degree, thus making. the operation very expensivef} j v The principalobjct of my invention isto provide animproved machine for working in drive chains to quickly and effectively eliminatethe initial-lengthening or-stretchin-g thereof without,the;enpenditure of. any

material amount of power an dhvithout diminishing the usefullifeof the chain. In carrying'put this idea, Lprovide driving andLdrivenTlsprocketsfon a plurality of -'chains, the respective. sprockets being fixed relative toleach other there being an angularvariat on between two of said sprock ets such as to produce a tightening of the upper strand of one chain and the lower or opposite strand of another, or the other chain, whereby the drives are strained one against the other, and the forces are balanced so that, while the action of the link plates against the sprockets and upon the pintles is the same as when running under full load in actual service, the power required to operate the mechanism is merely the amount necessary to overcome the trio tion of the moving parts. In this way the mechanism may be driven at a high rate of speed with very little power and the preliminary lengthening or stretching of the chains will be rapidly eliminated as the link plates are subjected to thestresses of full load operation and are readily Worn down to a permanent bearing.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my improvement; Fig. 2, a plan of the same; Fig. 3, a vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 4, a transverse section taken on the line 4l of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a transverse section illustrating the relative position and angular variation of the two sprocket gears fixed upon the driving shaft; and Fig. 6, a diagram illustrating the relative condition of the chains in two pair of chain drives.

According to the construction shown in the drawings: I provide a driving shaft, 1 mounted on bearings supported in journal boxes, 11, fixed upon a frame, 10, and having a plurality of sprocket Wheels, 16 and 18, keyed on said shaft. One or more driven. shafts, 15, having sprocket wheels, 17 and 19, are mounted parallel with driving shaft, let, and in order that they may be movable frame, 23, pivotally mounted on the shaft,

12,, in the sliding block, 24, supported in the guides, 25, on'the main frame, 10.4 The swingableframe is provided with a downwardly extending arm. 26,.wh 1ch 1s connected by a link, 27, with the short arm of ylever, 28,- pivoted on a bracket, 29, on the sliding block, 24, and having a weight, 30,

adjustable upon its longer arm. .Vith the sprocket chains, 20 and 21, applied to the respective pairs ofw'heels, 16, 17, i8 and 19,

it will be seen that the tension of the chains may be adjusted by shifting the Weight, 30, on the lever, 28. A distance bar, 31, of the desired length is pivotally mounted on the sliding block, 21, and bears against the fixed journal box frame, 11, to hold the shafts at the proper distance apart, according to the length of chain to be tested. When it is desired to apply or remove a chain, the distance bar may be turned at right angles by means of a handle, 32, and

g the sliding block may then be moved toward the driving shaft to loosen the chain. The

teeth of one wheel, 16, and the sprocket teeth of the other wheel, 18, as indicated in Fig. 5, so that the teeth of the respective wheels are not in line with each other, but are in an offset or staggered relation, the angular variation being some fractional part, preferably one-fourth to one-half, of the pitch of the sprocket teeth. The corresponding sprocket wheels, 17 and" 19, on the driven shaft are, however, fixed in such relative positions that their sprocket teeth are in line with each other and have no angular variation. If the teeth of the wheels on the two shafts be staggered in the same relation there would then be no effective angular variation to exert a strain upon the drive chains, and the term angular variation as used herein is, therefore, understood to mean the effective angular variation which would be the difference between angular relation of the teeth of the wheels upon one shaft, and the angular relation of the teeth of the wheels upon the other shaft. This effective angular variation causes the upper strand of one drive chain, 20, and the lower strand of the other chain, 21, to be stretched tight While the opposite strands are loose, In this manner the two drive chains are strained against each other, and the mechanism is balanced. When operated under this condition, the pressure and action of the link plates upon the pintles and sprocket teeth is substantially the same as when subjected to full load in actual service,- and as the re sistance to movement is only that due to the friction of the moving parts, the machine may be readily driven at high speed with comparatively very little power.

-When two or moredrive shafts are employed, the sprocket wheels, 16 and 18, upon the driving shaft may be made wide enough ,to also accommodate the additional drive stainsc as and 21% .Orseparate wheels "keyed in the proper relation may l or stopping the machine after the chains have been run the desired period of time, a brake, 33, maybe employed, adapted to bear upon therim of the driving pulley, 22, and operated by shaft, 34, lever, 35, and spring, 36. The brake is normally held released by the lever, 35, bearing against the girder, 9, on which the frame, 10, of the machine is supported. When it is desired to stop the machine, the supporting rods, 8, are elevated by any suitable mechanism, thereby raising the frame, 10, and the entire machine above the girder, 9, a sufficient distance for the lever, 35, to clear the same,

whereupon the spring. 36, throws the brake against the pulley, the belt for which is then slack, and the machine is quickly brought to a stop. The bars, 31, are then thrown over to allow the sliding blocks anddriven shafts to be moved toward the driving shaft a sufficient distance to loosen and remove the chains. New chains may then be placed upon the sprockets, the distance bars thrown back into operative'posit-ion, and the machine again started, the tension upon the chains during the process'of stretching be ing regulated as desired by adjusting the weights, 30. By using several of these machines, a large number of drive chains may be quickly worn into the desired condition for actual service.

Having now. described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent is: V 1. In a machine for wearing in drive chains, the combination of a shaft having a plurality of sprocket wheels rigidly mounted tliereomanother shaft havingcorchains on said sprocket wheels, one'of the sprocket wheels on one of the shafts being 1 deflected a portion ofthe' pitch relative to the teeth of another sprocket wheel on the same shaft and imparting a working stress to the opposite strands of the chainsacting against each other,.and means for driving one of said shafts. V V a 2. In a machine for wearingin drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a'driven shaft, and a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels rigidly mounted on ,said

shafts, chains on said sprocket wheels, the

teeth of one of said wheels having an an-' gular variation relative to another 'wheel upon the same shaft to impart a working stress to the opposite strandsof the chains acting against each other.

In a machine for wearing in drive chains, the combination ofa driving shaft, a pair of sprocket wheels fixed thereon, a driven shaft. a corresponding pair of sprocket wheels fixed thereon and chains on said sprocket whee1s,there being an tsetse angular variation between the teeth of the respective pairs of sprocket Wheels such as to produce opposing working stresses in the opposite strands of the chains.

4. In a machine for Wearing in drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, and a plurality of pairs of sprocket Wheels rigidly mounted on said shafts, and adapted to be connected by chains, the teeth of one of said Wheels having an angular variation relative to another, to subject opposite strands of said chain to opposing stresses, one of said shafts being movable toward and from the other, and adjustable means tending to force said shafts apart.

5. In a machine for Wearing in drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels fixed on said shafts, one of said shafts having fixed bearings and the other movable, and a distance bar for spacing said shafts a certain distance apart.

6. In a machine for wearing in drive chains. the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels fixed on said shafts, one of said shafts having fixed bearings and the other movable, a sliding block supporting the movable bearings, and a distance bar pivoted on said block for engaging the fixed bearing to space the shafts a certain distance apart.

7. In a machine for Wearing in drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels fixed on said shafts, the relation of the teeth of said wheels being such as to produce opposing working stresses in opposite strands of the drive chains, one of said shafts having fixed bearings and the other movable, a swinging frame for said movable bearing, and an adjustable weight for said swinging frame.

8. In a machine for wearing in drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a. driven shaft, a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels fixed on said shafts, the relation of the teeth of said wheels being such as to produce opposing Working stresses in the opposite strands .of the drive chains, one of said shafts having fixed bearings and the other movable, a swinging frame for said movable bearing, a pivoted lever attached at one end to said frame, and an adjustable weight mounted on the other arm of said lever.

In a machine for wearing in drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels fixed on said shafts, one of said shafts having fixed bearings and the other movable, a swinging frame for said movable bearing, a sliding block on which said frame is pivoted, a distance bar for said block, and an adjustable weight for said swinging frame.

10. In a machine for Wearing in drive chains, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a plurality of pairs of sprocket wheels rigidly mounted on said shafts and chains on said sprocket wheels, the relation of the teeth of said wheels being such as to produce a working stress in the opposite strands of the drive chains.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FRANK L. MORSE. Witnesses:

P. C. CoL'r, D. B PERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

